Ducks steal 4-5 on the road after sweeping the Utes in the final series of their Utah road trip

Oregon wins their last four-straight after dropping single-game series against BYU to begin their Utah road trip. Ducks move up to 5th in the Pac-12 following string of victories.

_______________________________________________________________

Utah Valley

Ducks 12 - Wolverines 9

• The heart of the Ducks’ lineup carried the team back into the win column with their efforts against the Utah Valley Wolverines. The 3-4-5 hitters, SS Spencer Steer, 1B Gabe Matthews, and LF Taylor Adams accounted for 9 of the team’s 12 runs.

Steer, S. 3-5, 2R, 2 RBI

Matthews, G. 1-3, 4 RBI, 2 R, 2 BB

Adams, T. 2-4, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB

• Oregon loosened things up with a six-run 2nd inning. Center fielder Jonny DeLuca took one to the side off Utah’s Mason Gray, bringing in catcher Cameron Campbell from third with the bases loaded. Steer added two more runs with a single to left field for a 4-2 score. Matthews proceeded to clear the bases with a three-run homer down the right field line giving the Ducks a 7-2 lead early.
• Utah Valley responded with a three-run 2nd inning with three separate RBI singles to bring the game within two. Right fielder Alexander Marco, who hit one of the RBI singles in the 2nd, tied the game up at 7-7 in the 5th, hitting a 2 RBI single to center scoring a pair of Wolverines. The five runs across three innings were given up by lefty sophomore Kolby Somers who replaced Hunter Breault after just a single inning of work on the mound.
• Adams was fairly quiet up until the 6th where he gave Oregon a 10-7 lead with a three-run bomb to center field that would be enough to give the Ducks the 12-9 victory after a couple insurance runs knocked in by right fielder Tanner Smith and 2B Kyle Froemke.
• Fuller, P. (W, 1-0) 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K
• Nelson, R. (S, 1) 0.2 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 K ,0 BB

_______________________________________________________________

Utah

Ducks 9 - Utes 4

• Sophomore Robert Ahlstrom bounced back in game 2 against the Utes after a couple shaky outings in the previous three-game series against the conference leading ASU Sun Devils. Who are an astounding 25-2-0, with one of those losses coming by wing of the Oregon Ducks. The lefty sophomore was lights-out against Utah, fanning 8 batters over 7.1 IP, allowing only 5 hits and an unearned run.
• Oregon’s batters were consistent from top to bottom nearly all game scoring in 5 of the 9 innings up at the plate. The Ducks put three runs on the board in the 1st with the help of some out-field bats. Center-fielder Jonny DeLuca hit an RBI double to left-center; five batters later, right-fielder Tanner Smith singled to center field scoring DeLuca and shortstop Spencer Steer giving the Ducks a 3-0 cushion to open up game 2.
• With Ahlstrom dominating on the mound, Oregon pushed their lead to 9-0 entering the 8th inning. First off a double to right field by third-baseman Sam Novitske in the 2nd; followed by a Smith solo home run in the 4th, a base-clearing 3 RBI double by Steer in the 6th and a Cameron Campbell RBI single in the 7th. Smith and Steer combined for 6 of the team’s 9 runs with 3 RBI’s each.

• The Utes made a last-ditch effort to come back, putting up three runs in the 8th with an RBI single and a 2 RBI single with the bases loaded by Utes’ first-baseman Shea Kramer. Left-fielder Isaac Deveaux added Utah’s final run in the 9th hitting a single to right field for a 9-4 final.
• Ahlstrom, R. (W, 4-3) 7.1 IP, 0 ER, 1 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K

_______________________________________________________________

Utah

Ducks 9 - Utes 6

• The struggling Utes gave Oregon their first real test in the opening game of Sunday’s Double-header. The Ducks struck first with a Steer double to right-center scoring Campbell and second-baseman Max Foxcraft. Utah’s second-baseman Oliver Dunn answered right back in the bottom of the 3rd with a solo homer. The Utes took their first lead of the game, and of the series, in the 4th as Deveaux scores on a past-ball for an unearned run and a 2-3 game.
• The three runs given up through four innings were the only runs sophomore starting pitcher Cullen Kafka allowed through 6.0 innings of work. Junior right-hander Ryne Nelson came in and relieved Kafka for the final three innings. Nelson gave Utah fans at the game hope for a comeback giving up two runs in the bottom of the 9th. Oregon’s Taylor Adams, 0-4 before his at-bat in the 9th, saved his best for last hitting a game-changing grand slam giving the Duck’s an 8-4 lead.

• Tanner Smith and Cameron Campbell both turned in three hits in game one of the double-header. Adams led the team in RBI’s with 4; Steer recorded a pair of RBI’s while Matthews and Novitske each notched one of their own.
• Nelson, R. (W, 2-0) 3.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 WP

_______________________________________________________________

Utah

Ducks 6 - Utes 3

• Oregon dominated the final game of Sunday’s double-header sweeping Utah in their three game series and going 4-5 on the road after facing ASU at home in Eugene. The Ducks started the scoring in all three games of the series. Game 3’s scoring began in the 1st with a Steer RBI double to right-center and an Adams RBI triple two batters later to jump out to a 2-0 lead early. The batting order came back around in the 2nd inning and Steer, still feeling hot, singled to left, driving in two runs to extend the lead to 4-0 in the 2nd.

• Besides a three-run 7th inning given up by freshman right-hander Keaton Chase, the Ducks’ pitching rotation threw nearly 9 perfect innings. Chase gave up a double with the bases load to Utes shortstop Matt Richardson to bring the scoring margin within one.

Walker, B. (W, 1-1) 5.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K

Stringer, C. 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, ) BB, 0 K

Chase, K. 0.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 K

Tellache, N. (S, 4) 2.1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 WP

• The Ducks’ bats were held silent throughout the rest of the game, but Oregon was able to score two runs in uncommon-like fashion. Adams scored following an error by left fielder Tyler Thompson after Smith singled to the outfield. Smith then scored on a wild-pitch by Utah’s Zac McCleve to make it a 6-3 final.
• Steer and Smith led the Ducks going 2-4 each while Steer totaled 3 RBI’s in the final game of the double-header.

_______________________________________________________________

STATE OF THE PAC

#2 Stanford (19-3-0) / Conf. (6-0-0)

#7 Arizona State (25-2-0) / Conf. (8-1-0)

#1 UCLA (21-5-0) / Conf. (7-2-0)

#6 Oregon State (20-6-1) / Conf. (6-3-0)

Oregon (16-10-0) / Conf. (5-4-0)

Washington (14-9-0) / Conf. (5-4-0)

USC (10-17-0) / Conf. (3-6-0)

California (14-11-0) / Conf. (2-4-0)

Arizona (13-14-0) / Conf. (2-7-0)

Utah (8-15-0) / Conf. (1-8-0)

Washington State (7-20-0) / Conf. (0-6-0)

*Rankings determined by Pac-12.com and D1Baseball.com Top 25

_______________________________________________________________

DUCK OF THE WEEK

Spencer Steer

With 11 RBI’s in four games Steer earns Duck of the Week honors. Over the four-game road trip Steer went 7-17 (.411) with the aforementioned 11 RBI’s and five runs scored. The junior out of Long Beach California currently leads the team with a .347 AVG and 19 total RBI’s.

_______________________________________________________________

On Deck:

Fresno State (13-9-0)